Health Benefits of Cocoa

Guest Bio: Dr. Eric Ding, PhD

Eric L. Ding is an epidemiologist, nutritionist, and faculty scientist at Harvard School of Public Health. He is also founder and Director of the Campaign for Cancer Prevention (with 6 million members), Director of Epidemiology with MicroClinic International, and a Soros Fellow.

He was noted for his key role in leading a two-year-long investigation into the controversial drug safety and adverse metabolic risks of Vioxx® that drew national attention. Highlighted and priority published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), as chief author, he was recognized and named in the New York Times and USA Today.

His research is focused on risk factors and prevention of chronic disease, social networks on health, and social media technology and health. He has published in leading journals, including the New England Journal of Medicine, JAMA, and The Lancet. His over 4 dozen publications have received more than 1800 external citations.

A Google Tech Talk keynote speaker, he led the largest and longest ever study of obesity and health in Major League Baseball. He has also served as advisor for the WHO and the EU European Commission, as judge for the annual VH1 Do Something Awards, and as an appointed expert for the WHO's Global Burden of Disease Project. His work has been also cited by the directors of CDC and CMMS in the framework of the new "Million Hearts" prevention initiative. In total online reach, he directs several cancer prevention advocacies totaling over 17 million members, and directs Facebook pages with more than 7 million, and has raised $500,000 in public donations (average $20/donor) to date for disease prevention research.

A lifelong cancer prevention advocate and childhood tumor survivor, he founded and directs the Campaign for Cancer Prevention, with 6.2 million members and featured in the Chronicle of Philanthropy, Newsweek, and The New York Times. Profiled in several books, including CauseWired (by Tom Watson, Wiley & Sons, Inc 2008), Zilch (by Nancy Lublin, Portfolio, Penguin Group 2010), and Shift & Reset (by Brian Reich, Wiley 2011), he was recently recognized by Craig Newmark as among "16 People and Organizations Changing the World in 2012". He is also a recipient of the 2012 Outstanding Young Leader Award from the Boston Chamber of Commerce.

Born in China and raised in diverse corners of the United States, he attended college at the Johns Hopkins University, graduating with Honors in Public Health and Phi Beta Kappa. He then earned his dual doctorate in epidemiology and doctorate in nutrition at age 23 from Harvard University. He also completed his post-doctorate in Nutrition at the Harvard School of Public Health. At Harvard, he has taught more than a dozen graduate and undergraduate courses, for which he received the Derek Bok Distinction in Teaching Award from Harvard College.